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Google Will Cover LGBT Partner Health Benefits

In something of a groundbreaking move, Google is giving its employees in same-sex relationships extra cash to cover their partners' health benefits.

Currently, when receiving partner health care coverage, same-sex domestic partners are subject to an extra tax that straight, married couples don't have to pay. Google is taking the burden of paying this tax on itself by compensating partnered LGBT employees for the amount of the tax, which comes to a bit more than $1,000 each year.

This benefit will also cover any dependents of the partner in the same-sex couple.

This is a smart move for Google, and here's why.

This company has to share the local pool of talent with a huge number of technology companies in Silicon Valley, from well-established tech giants like Microsoft to startups who'd like nothing better than to nab a Google engineer as their CTO. By offering this benefit, Google is making a direct bid for LGBT talent. In the Bay Area, this is undoubtedly wise.

Google is well known for its employee benefits. The company is famous for its free gourmet lunches, dinners and snacks for employees. And there are on-campus doctors, masseuses and fitness instructors, too.

When it comes to starting a family, Google is also good to its staff. The company gives Googlers a 5-month parental leave option for new moms and seven weeks of paid leave for non-primary caregivers. These leave parameters also apply to parents who adopt — and Google will help out with adoption fees to the tune of $5,000. You can expense up to $500 of take-out or delivery food while you're at home with your new little one, and when you're back at work, Google can help out with emergency childcare up to five days a year. These benefits apply to all parents, regardless of gender or marital status.

Laszlo Bock is Google’s vice president for people operations, known in other circles as "human resources." He told The New York Times today that the company had considered the tax on same-sex couples along with other issues, such as including domestic partners in its family leave policy.

“We said, ‘You’re right, that doesn’t seem fair,’ so we looked into it,” he said. “From that initial suggestion, we said, let’s take a look at all the benefits we offer and see if we are being truly fair across the board...

“It will cost some money, but it was more about doing the right thing.”

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